


the upside of you

by MayWilder



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Adult Life, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Peter Parker, Friends to Lovers, Gay Ned Leeds, Gen, Internalized Fatphobia, M/M, Precious Peter Parker, interwebs, post-college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25809799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayWilder/pseuds/MayWilder
Summary: "You’re so...Ned, why do you never talk about how funny you can be? Or how smart, how you can keep up with everybody else’s specialties with a little work, even when we don’t understand computers? Or how you just get people and that makes them love you?”Unsure how to respond, Ned looked at his feet. “I guess I just figure that everyone else sees it, so I should be sure to see it too.”“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Peter walked closer, putting a hand on Ned’s arm. “But maybe don’t treat it like this disadvantage to you. It’s not. There’s no downside to you, Ned.”For some reason, the warm touch of Peter’s hand on his bare skin combined with his words brought tears to Ned’s eyes. He blinked them away. “Thank you, Peter. That means a lot, coming from you.”The ‘coming from you’ slipped out of its own accord, but Peter didn’t notice or didn’t comment because he just slid his fingers down to squeeze Ned’s wrist. Ned’s breath caught, and he tried not to let on that he was dizzy with the overwhelming combination of touch, kind words, and the stupid sweet smile on Peter’s fucking face.**or, Ned is completely incapable of not falling in love with Peter Parker
Relationships: Betty Brant & Ned Leeds, Harley Keener & Ned Leeds, Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds/Peter Parker
Comments: 21
Kudos: 179





	the upside of you

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to you, Alex, for asking for this specifically. It wasn't supposed to turn into the monster it is, but what can I say? Ned Leeds deserves the love and attention. Love you dude.
> 
> Also, to any interwebs fans, here is a link to a discord dedicated solely to them: https://discord.gg/6JNRZ3A
> 
> 1/12/21: updated with some minor changes and edits!

When Tony Stark showed up at his door, Ned was wearing pink fuzzy pajama bottoms and a brand new “I went to New York and all I got was this crappy T-Shirt” shirt. He’d spent all day packing up his dorm, and this was the only outfit readily available post-shower. If he’d had any other choice, any preparation, Ned certainly wouldn’t be wearing pajamas. He’d thought about how meeting Tony Stark would go - of course he had - the man is a goddamn legend in the world of technology. In that particular scenario though, Ned would run into the other man at an MIT alumni celebration, then Tony Stark would talk to him and be so impressed by his resume that he’d have no choice but to hire him, and -

Not the point. The point is, in those dreams, Ned wasn’t wearing ridiculous pajamas and holding an ice cream sandwich. In those dreams, he looked like a professional who was prepared for the possibility of meeting Tony Stark. 

“Um,” he said blankly, “you’re Tony Stark.”

“Astute.” Mr. Stark chuckled. “Not what I expected from someone who completely rewrote the programming for MIT's virtual security.”

Ned fumbled with what to say. 

“Just kidding, I know a genius or two and they still struggle with the English language. Can I come in?”

Ned swallowed down his nerves to the best of his ability, and stepped aside. “How did you know about my project?”

“Kid,” Mr. Stark snorted, striding in, “if you don’t think I have an eye out for talent across the world, you’re kidding yourself. Especially at my alma mater. You know that I went here, right?”

“I know,” Ned rushed to reply. He did know that. “Everyone knows you went here. I saw you speak last year on the fact that saving the world is actually attainable through dedicated science and funding.”

“I’m looking for ways to do it through both.” Mr. Stark eyed the apartment: cracked walls, mismatched Goodwill furniture, and plastic dishes in the sink. “Do you have any interest in saving the world, Nedward?”

“It’s actually just Edwa - you know what, nevermind.” Ned straightened his shoulders. “I do, sir, though I’m not sure how I could. I’m not an engineer or chemist or biologist, or any combination of them.”

“No,” Stark admitted, “but you’re a programmer. You write code, build programs in your sleep. Your security programs are better than the White House’s, and you’re smart enough to understand all other aspects of the scientific world at some kind of base level.”

He wasn’t wrong about that. Ned may not have had the biggest interest in biological sciences, but he understood and greatly respected them. “You want to integrate my programming abilities into the life sciences.”

“Astute, again,” Stark teased. He crossed his arms. “I’m not crashing your evening to say hello. I’m crashing your evening because I want to personally offer you a chance to work with resources you never imagined, and the freedom to pursue your own projects alongside company work. Not to mention ridiculously good benefits. The hours can be shitty and you’ll have to deal with me every so often. You’ll also have to share a workspace with others, but I’ve been told the opportunity - what is it Peter says? ‘Doesn’t suck?’”

Ned couldn’t help the sound of surprise that escaped his lips. He clamped his mouth shut after realizing the ungodly noise came from him, and tried to ascertain if Mr. Stark was joking. It was a little hard to read his expression behind tinted glasses, and the general manner in which he carried himself (read: I Have No Cares). It was clear, however, that the other man was waiting on something. 

Waiting on Ned. 

“I would never turn down an opportunity like this,” Ned said truthfully. “This is my literal dream. I can’t believe - sorry, yes. Yes I would like to take it. The job.”

Mr. Stark reached into his suit jacket and produced an envelope. “It’s my understanding that you’re already moving to New York. Here’s an upgraded flight, a company for movers you can call in the morning, and a single-use guest pass to Stark Tower. Use it when you come to sign your contract, where you’ll get your signing bonus and permanent ID card.”

Ned tried to speak, he really did, but his mouth just wouldn’t form the words. He was suddenly hyperaware of the now melting ice cream sandwich in his hand. Sparing him, Mr. Stark pushed the envelope into Ned’s shaking hand. He clutched the bundle to his chest, as if it would disappear if he didn’t hold on tight enough. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

The other man extended a hand. “I look forward to working with you, Nedward.”

**)-(**

The details of returning to New York were a blur. Ned was too worked up with the prospect of his new life to remember coming home. As much as he loved Cambridge, it was a relief to be back where he grew up. Over an art gallery sat Ned’s childhood home, exactly the same as when he left it. City sidewalks still hummed with an electrified energy he’d missed. Even though his new apartment was nowhere near his childhood home, or the places he frequented in high school, Inwood was still New York. A quiet neighborhood, sure, but irrefutably home. 

Beyond the general impressions of home and relief, Ned’s week blurred by. He met his roommates, got set up with HR at Stark Tower, had a few freak outs, and ate take out for a week straight before venturing out to the grocery store. Before long, it was Monday and Ned was standing in front of Stark Tower, eyes glued on the towering building. He could hardly believe that he, Ned Leeds, was standing in front of the most impressive company in the country - nay, world - to start work. 

This would be his daily life. 

“First time?”

Jumping, Ned turning to find an amused brunette with long curls and clothes he could only think of as slouchy. They must have been a regular, because they were way too casual about the Stark Tower ID they held. 

“We all have that look when we first show up,” they chuckled. “I’m Amalia. Do you know where you’re going?”

Ned nodded. “Thirty-fifth floor.”

Amalia’s lips pulled into a sincere smile. “You’re the new intern in Stark’s lab, right?”

“Yeah, Ned Leeds,” he answered. “You work there?”

“Nah, I’m in marketing. My girlfriend is in product development though, and there’s been chatter of a new intern in the labs. Word has it Stark picked you himself.”

Ned blushed. “Yeah, it was kind of unbelievable. Still wonder if it's fake.”

“Well,” Amalia motions to the doors, “only one way to find out, my dude.”

“Right.” Ned swallowed, but followed Amalia’s lead to the front doors. Both headed through security and made their way to the elevator, where the other’s entire demeanor shifted when someone else entered the lift. If he had to guess by the dreamy look, Ned would wager this was the previously mentioned girlfriend. 

“Hey, baby girl,” the woman said, reaching for Amalia’s hand. “You have another friend, I see.  That’s the fourth in a week.”

Where Amalia looked warm and soft, her girlfriend was the exact opposite. She was wearing a very impressive skirt suit, her blonde hair pulled into a no-nonsense updo, and black heels sharp enough to stab someone. Ned couldn’t help but be amused at the pair, especially as Amalia giggled and leaned into her girlfriend’s embrace. 

“This is Ned,” she gestured toward him. “He’s the new intern. I found him looking a little lost outside.”

“I was a little intimidated,” Ned admitted. “This is my first big boy job.”

Amalia laughed, and her girlfriend cracked a smile. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ned. I’m Hanna. We’ll be working together occasionally.”

“Do you…” he tried to figure out how to not sound like an idiot, “do you know exactly what I’ll be doing? Mr. Stark was pretty vague, and HR didn’t help that much.”

Hanna looked almost bothered and shook her head. “You’ll be in a lab workspace with four other interns. Your general responsibility is to create and test the basic ideas brought to Stark and Banner.”

“That’s not much more specific.”

“You’ll learn as you go. Just remember that you weren’t handpicked by Tony Stark himself to sit in the back of a lab and order coffee.” Hanna raised an eyebrow as the elevator slowed to a stop. “You’re working on real shit now. Welcome to the big leagues, kid.”

The doors opened. Hanna kissed Amalia. “Love you. See you at lunch.”

“Love you!” Amalia sang while her girlfriend walked away. The doors shut again. She threw a wink at Ned. “You’ll figure it out. Also, here….is my card!” She fished it out of her bag with a flourish. “Call me if you need friends at lunch, or just wanna hang.”

“Thanks, Amalia,” Ned said sincerely. He took the card and tucked it into his pocket. “You’ve been really nice, and I appreciate it.”

“Of course.” She waved it off. “We always need friends in new places.”

The doors opened again and Amalia floated out. Ned watched her leave with a warmth in his chest, pleased that she seemed sincere in her offer of friendship. He certainly wouldn’t turn it down on his first day, especially since he wasn’t entirely sure what the hell he was even doing yet. 

The elevator chimed, alerting Ned that this was his stop. He stepped out of the lift with sweaty palms. Following the instructions from HR, Ned took a left, passed the bathrooms and what looked like a break room before reaching the end of the hall. As expected, he was greeted by the sight of floor to ceiling glass windows encasing the labs. Anyone passing by could see right in. This was his workplace. This beautiful, sleek lab with defined personal spaces, a killer view, and people who all looked his age. 

“Hey!” a kid nearby him swivels in his chair. “You must be Edward!”

Ned cringed internally. “Um, yeah, I’m Ned. Nice to meet you.”

“Ned, neat! I’m Harley - your go to guy.” He stood from his chair and strode over, sticking out a lanky arm. “Also known as Iron Man’s Mechanic, Hottest Ass in Midtown, and--”

“Most obnoxious cowboy?” the only other person in the office supplied, leaning back in their chair. 

“I am not a cowboy,” Harley pouted while Ned shook his hand. “I’m from Tennessee, but don’t let Lex lie to you. She’s a liar. Who lies. Does not speak the truth. You get it.”

Lex flipped Harley off before raising an arm to wave. “Welcome to the dream team, dude. Name’s Lex, your resident accountant.”

“Hey, I’m the one doing introductions,” Harley whined. His expression morphed back into a grin in a flash, turning toward Ned with a flourish. “Can I give you a tour, newbie?”

Ned nodded, a little overwhelmed, but intrigued thus far. Harley pointed to the desk where he previously sat, flush against the wall closest to the door. It was roughly two yards wide and covered in tools and trinkets. There was something that looked like a phone in the center with a magnifying glass over it. Hanging on the wall in front of it were photos of friends and family, as well as a few letters and a framed degree from Stanford. 

“This is my desk,” Harley told him. “It’s chaotic, but there’s a method to the madness, so to speak. Don’t touch anything, and we’ll be best friends. Your desk is this one right behind me, so you’ve got a view. It’s a little smaller, but Tony said you won’t need too much workspace.”

Ned placed his work bag in the chair where Harley indicated, silently agreeing that he really didn’t need too much space. 

As he pulled out his computer, Harley walked around to stand next to the desk pressed flush against Ned’s. “Your desk buddy is Peter, who isn’t in yet. There is no method to his madness. He’s a brilliant biochemical engineer and works pretty close with Dr. Banner.”

“So cool,” Ned murmured. “I can’t believe I work here.”

Harley grinned like he understood. “Wait until you meet him, he’s such a dork.”

Ned practically squawked. “The man is remarkable.”

Harley shook his head, but continued on to the desk to the right of Ned’s. “You’ve met Lex, Resident Asshole Accountant.”

“You love me.” Lex flicked a long, red braid off her shoulder before smiling warmly at Ned. “I’m also the project manager, which Harley conveniently forgets to tell everyone. I manage the budget and deadlines and communications with Project Development. I’m your go-to girl.”

“Noted.” Ned filed away the information before he was pointed toward a lab station along the wall. It ran parallel to Harley’s desk but looked more like a chemistry lab, only much larger. “Is this Peter’s station?”

“The one he shares with Gwen, yeah. She doesn’t have a normal desk because she keeps everything mixed in with her lab. It is important to note that you  _ cannot _ approach the desk without explicit permission to do so.”

“Yeah,” Lex chimed in, “Harley’s desk may be a controlled chaos, but Gwen’s is basically a living ecosystem. We don’t mess with it because if you kill Gwen’s ecosystem, it can really mess her up.”

“And Peter will kill you if you mess her up.”

“Oh yeah, Peter may seem nice, but he’ll fight anyone for Gwen.”

“Good to know.” Ned moved back towards his desk. “So, uh, is there an orientation?”

“Nope,” Lex laughed. She opened up a drawer in her desk and pulled out a file. “For the rest of the company, yes, but for us, no. Mr. Stark kind of dropped us in here and told us vaguely what we were supposed to do.”

“And that is?” 

Lex handed him the folder. “Your first project is to create a first-trial program for a neural processing chip.”

“The goal?”

“All in the file. A developer threw out the idea in a meeting the other day and Mr. Stark wants to know how viable it is. I’ve got Peter and Harley working on the physical aspects of it, but need you to see if the program itself can be built.”

Ned took the file and immediately placed himself at his desk. It seemed unreal that he was sitting here, with a team picked by Tony Stark, about to work on technology specifically designed to...fight paralysis? 

_ No way. _ Flicking through the papers he’d been given, Ned realized that the primary goal was to make people walk again, to mimic nerves that no longer do what they need to do. Ned was definitely going to have to talk to this Peter guy to get a better understanding from the physiological side of things, but...this was incredible. 

“Welcome to SI, newbie,” Lex smirked. “Your new laptop and tablet are in the drawer. Once you personalize it to your liking, get to work.”

“Aye aye captain.” Ned saluted her, immediately regretting it. She only raised an eyebrow in response, so Ned turned his beet red face away and busied himself getting his new stuff. “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”

He heard Harley covering a laugh with a cough, and though it was easily identifiable, he appreciated the heart behind it. 

**)-(**

After about a half an hour, Ned was feeling more settled in. The desk calendar from his mom and a to-go cup of his mom's cold mint tea helped, along with the background photo of him and Harry holding their respective degrees. Ned grabbed a sticky note to remind himself to schedule lunch with his friend before setting up his new SI login. Time to get to work. 

At least the work was familiar territory. Writing a task based code was something Ned could do in his sleep, and it always made him feel like an author of sorts. The framework was the story outline, and individual lines of code were his characters. The longer Ned worked, the more developed his “characters” became. The lines of code spoke to each other, learning and growing while Ned figured out what worked and what didn’t, until the output started morphing into what he wanted. Part of Ned wished that he could see the project through to the end, but the assignment said to design something basic and see if it was possible. No more, no less. While he would get credit for the initial design, Ned wasn’t going to be developing or testing it. 

It didn’t matter, though. He was going to be a part of something that could affect the medical field on a revolutionary scale. 

_ Whack.  _

Ned was so absorbed in his project, tuned out of the rest of the world, that it took a hot minute for him to acknowledge the person standing (expectantly) behind his computer screen. Ned looked up and was greeted by a man he hadn’t met yet. Probably that Peter guy Harley had previously mentioned. However, the charming southerner had failed to mention one very important point.

This guy was gorgeous. Like a sick joke by God himself, he also happened to have Ned’s weaknesses - the three ‘Bs’: Brown hair, brown eyes, broad shoulders. He went beyond conventional attractiveness; smooth skin, pink lips, long eyelashes, cheekbones to die for, a jaw that could cut glass...he was almost too perfect-looking. It would weird Ned out if he didn’t make eye contact and give the sweetest fucking smile he’d ever laid eyes on. 

Ned’s stomach did approximately ten somersaults in as many seconds, and he wondered if he was going to continue staring dumbly at the guy, or summon up his power of speech. 

“Hey, I’m Peter,” the guy shined a thousand watt smile. “You’re Ned, right? The new programmer?”

Ned nodded, brain short-circuiting. Who knew a simple button down could look so good? Definitely not Ned. He had never appreciated collars before, but it framed Peter’s clavicle and neck in a way that shouldn’t look this inappropropriate on a commonplace garment. 

Peter stuck out his hand, unfairly muscled arm moving gracefully. This brought Ned back down to earth. He responded in kind. “Nice to meet you, Peter. Lex says we’ll be working together.”

“Yeah, any questions you have about the conceptual aspects of what we need, I’m your guy.” Peter slid his bag onto his desk and kept smiling. “Liking it so far?”

“Pete, he’s been here literally two hours,” Harley snorted. 

Peter rolled his eyes, but there was a fond exasperation in the way his smile didn’t fade. “So, enough time for you to annoy the shit out of him then.”

“You wound me.”

Ned laughed at the two, enjoying the snide remarks they threw back and forth for the next couple minutes. They spoke like an old married couple, with insults that got seemingly perfect reactions. A familiarity settled between them that spoke to how long they must’ve known each other. Judging by Lex’s bemused and silent reaction, a common occurrence. 

By the time they stopped their banter, Peter was settled in across from Ned. He scooted his laptop to the side to see Ned more easily, and asked about his project. Ned realized early on that he’d actually need help, and informed Peter that his knowledge of the human body only went so far. 

“I need to know how the neurons communicate,” he said simply. “I’m thinking the best way is for the device to act like a bridge between what’s communicating and what isn’t, but to write the program correctly, I need more understanding of how a neurotransmitter gets from point A to point B.”

Peter’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Let’s talk about action potentials.”

So went the rest of the morning. 

The other man was thrilled to discuss how neurotransmitters move, and used various analogies to help Ned understand the communication between all of the moving parts. It was incredible to think about what the brain constantly did. Even better was having someone who clearly loved the material explain it. Between diagrams and random tangents about the central nervous system, Ned felt like his grasp was ironclad. 

Roughly two hours later, Ned had a stack of papers next to his laptop and plans to keep working after a late lunch. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed until Harley announced they were all going to the cafeteria. Being with Peter made time stop and, yeah, Ned was fucked.

“You coming with?” Harley stood and grabbed his bag off the back of a nearby chair. “It’s one of the benefits.”

“Is cafeteria food a benefit?” Lex snarked. The last member of their team (that Ned hadn’t been formally introduced to because of his conversation with Peter) smacked Lex on the back of the head. “Ow,  _ excuse you. _ ” Lex’s gaze narrowed.

“Ignore her, the food is actually really good,” Peter butted in. “It’s not a gourmet restaurant, but it's pretty delicious.”

“You’re a bottomless pit. You have no concept of what's good or bad,” Harley pointed out, arm slung over Peter’s shoulders. “Just be honest, Pete, all food tastes the same.”

“Incorrect. Food has very particular tastes, I’m just not a snob like you.”

Ned chuckled and let the group lead him from the lab. It was a short ride down, during which Ned listened to Harley rattle off his plans for their device, having decided it needed to be a microchip implant. His hands flew around while his body vibrated with excitement, energy infectious. Harley and Ned went back and forth on how that would work, with Peter popping in every so often.

The three of them stopped when Lex flicked their ears. “We don’t talk about work during break.” 

“But my ideas!” Harley whined, “You can’t leave all this unlocked potential swimming around my head -”

“Notepad, Harls,” Peter offered, patting his shoulder. “Remember? Notepad for when it's crowded up there.”

“Right.” Harley reached into his jeans and pulled out a notebook with a little pen attached. He chewed on the inside of his cheek while scribbling furiously. Peter smiled and Lex sighed in relief. 

It was an odd group of people, but Ned was ready to admit that he was already fond of them. 

**)-(**

Ned didn’t have many friends. 

It was a pretty pathetic cliche, even for him. Until MIT, he hadn’t met many people who cared about what was on the inside. Ned grew up in a big, diverse city, but America still wasn’t body-positive central. Even in the vastness of New York, bullies existed and being a fat, gay  _ nerd _ made him a prime target. Early on, Ned got used to rolling over and taking it, of course, because what would violence solve? 

It still sucked ass. 

He’d grown up with the basic idea that, outside of his childhood friends, Harry and Betty, there was no one out there for Ned to connect with, romantically or platonically. Therefore, he stopped looking.

That all flew out the door with his new coworkers. 

Immediately, Ned earned an effortless respect from his colleagues. Peter and Harley never once doubted that he’d be able to keep up as they explained what was needed for their project. Lex was appreciative of Ned’s quick answers and seriousness with which he took the job.

The only person he didn’t interact with the first week was Gwen. Ned learned fairly quickly that she was quiet and reclusive, but shared small smiles with Peter when he brought everyone smoothies or coffee. On Wednesday, he walked in to find Gwen sitting on the edge of Harley’s desk, holding a wrench and talking to the floor. 

Ned gave her space. She didn’t seem like the social type. 

Everyone else, though, was open and kind. Warm and welcoming, Ned’s coworkers made the first week at Stark Industries incredible. They seemed genuinely invested in him outside of work. Ned’s head was on a swivel as he answered their questions about school, his family, what it was like growing up in Brooklyn, his plans before the job offer came through, and where his future was headed now. It was unusual to have people wanting to learn about him, rather than friends who have always known him. 

In two days’ time, Ned’s coworkers learned his coffee order. A gesture he wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of. He almost shed a manly tear when Peter wordlessly set a black coffee with three sugars in front of him. 

Ned decided he would show appreciation for his coworkers by paying it forward. He stopped for coffee before work at their local. Though Ned wished he could preface by explaining how amazing it felt to have a job where he was capable and valued, he knew it would make things weird on so many levels. Thus, armed with a shy smile, Ned soundlessly placed his friends’ respective coffee orders on their desks. 

(If he also happened to get Peter a buttered bagel, same as he’d seen the other man bring in three times that week, well, whatever.

The smile he got was totally worth Lex’s knowing smirk.)

“Thanks, man.” Harley bumps his shoulder against Ned’s arm. “You could have just used the company card for this. Tony pays for the coffee.”

“It’s no problem,” Ned answered as a blush creeped over his face. 

Peter’s own face mirrored Ned’s when he was handed the bagel. He thanked the other man with a light squeeze to the arm, trailing his fingers down Ned’s forearm before pulling away. The feather-light touch took Ned by surprise. His hip jostled the filing cabinet, sending the gag-gift mug Betty bought him plummeting to the ground.

Before Ned could blink, Peter snaked his free hand out to catch the ceramic inches from the ground. “Nice reflexes, man.” Ned blinked.

Peter wordlessly set the cup back where it belonged. A few desks over, Lex moaned as she sipped her cappuccino. Ned laughed and the mug incident was forgotten. He turned his attention back to the remaining beverage in the cardboard drink holder. Ever so slowly, like approaching a predator in the wild, Ned walked over to Gwen. 

She eyed the beverage warily. “Pink drink?”

Ned nodded.

“Coconut milk? No actual strawberries floating around?”

He nodded again. 

Gwen’s face softened. She tentatively reached a hand out. “That’s very kind of you, Edward. I didn’t realize you’d noticed.”

Ned didn’t say anything about his name. He didn’t want to push his luck. Instead, he placed the drink in her waiting hand. “No problem, Miss. Stacy.”

With a deep breath, Ned turned and went back to his desk. From the corner of his eye, he caught Peter looking at him strangely. It was the kind of look normally reserved for fresh tissue samples under a microscope. Peter looked as if he’d never seen anything like Ned. 

“What?” Ned asked, suddenly very self-conscious. “Did I do something wrong?” 

“No, sorry,” Peter cleared his throat. His eyes darted downward. “Um, we should be finished with the chip this morning, and then we can get the report written up this afternoon. You wanna get out of the lab and work on it? I know a courtyard around the corner that’s nice and peaceful.”

“Great idea,” Ned chirped. He turned toward Harley. “You down for working on our report out of the lab?”

“Absolutely.” Harley raised his coffee. “Just say when. Nearly done, by the way, and you can upload the program.”

“Thanks!” Ned plopped into his desk chair and smiled at Peter. Peter smiled back. Ned wished his stomach wouldn’t flip at the sight. 

He really was just so pretty. 

“So, any fun weekend plans?” Peter asked as he began scratching in a notebook. “First week of work down, surely you’re wanting to do something special?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Ned admitted. “I’ve been so caught up in work, I haven’t made any plans. Harry’’ll probably just come over and watch sucky sci-fi movies.”

“Harry’s your, uh, best friend, right?” Peter stiffened, but Ned hadn’t noticed.

“Yeah! Basically my brother after all these years.” Ned’s eyes were still glued to his screen, oblivious to Peter’s shift in demeanor.

“Is that a tradition?” A lopsided smile was back on Peter’s face by the time Ned looked up.

“Yes sir, Sucky Sci-fi Saturday!” Ned grinned while opening up the code for their project. “We watch all the bad movie marathons and eat popcorn and loudly complain about them.”

“Sounds like a fun time,” Peter offered. 

“Yeah, you should join sometime.” 

Too late did Ned realize his faux pas. The words were already out in the air. He wanted to hit himself for letting the subconscious ‘spend time with Peter’ slip through his ‘Pretty Peter doesn’t want to date you’ filter. Trying not to cringe, Ned glanced up at the other man to see his reaction.

A gleeful “Really?” and genuine smile were not what Ned expected to see. “Yeah,” he answered before he lost his nerve, “if, you know, you like...popcorn?”

To his right, Lex faked a cough in order to cover up her laughter. Ned wondered if the floor would save him by giving out. 

“I happen to be a  _ huge _ fan of popcorn,” Peter responded with a crooked smile. 

“Cool,” Ned’s voice had risen a noticeable octave. “I’ll text you the details.” When Peter’s back was turned, he pulled up his messaging app on the computer and texted Harry. 

_ Ned: SOS I have done the stupid  _

_ Harold: ??? _

_ Harold: Is it about that stupid parker guy? _

_ Ned: Hey he is very smart _

_ Ned: Also yes _

_ Harold: What did you do?  _

_ Ned: He may or may not be coming to sucky syfy saturday  _

Ned was then hounded with gif after gif of people crying, a few betrayal accusations, and a simple pout to finish it off. 

_ Ned: are you done being dramatic _

_ Harry: Never.  _

_ Harry:...but also good for you, doing that bold thing  _

_ Ned: not helpful, but appreciated  _

The rest of the morning passed quickly, with Ned uploading his program to Harley’s finished device. Peter ran a million tests on it, scribbling notes in his book while Ned tweaked his program based on Peter’s suggestions. They obviously wouldn’t know if it was useful without any sort of trial, but for their first prototype thrown together in a week, the men were confident that it was solid work. 

In a courtyard cafe a few miles away from the Tower, the three of them wrote up their report and emailed it to Lex for final approval. Ned was, quite frankly, flying on cloud nine while he sat there, Peter next to him, a comfortable breeze in the air, and his first project under his belt. 

“How’s it feel, Ned?” Harley asked from across the table, loudly sipping from his drink. “First week at Stark Tower and you’re already changing the world.”

“I won’t lie, it’s pretty much my dream come true,” Ned admitted. “I never thought I would do something like this. I always wanted to, but who could have predicted that, right out of college, this would be my life?”

“That’s kind of Tony’s brand,” Peter interjected, “making dreams come true and all.”

Ned picked at the paper straw in his cup. “You guys don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I was wondering...you both speak about him as if you know him personally. Do you?”

Peter and Harley exchanged a knowing look. The former cleared his throat. “Harley and I have known for Tony for a long time. Harley longer, but me since high school, when I was his intern.”

“I’ve seen mentions of you,” Ned realized. “He’s credited you on a few ideas with Avengers tech. Weren’t you the one who suggested stealth mode for the Iron Spider?”

Peter flushed while Harley grinned. “Nope, that one was me. Peter’s done a lot, but that little project is my baby. Not many people know it was used for the Iron Spider, though. All they know is Iron Man.”

“Oh, yeah.” Ned coughed awkwardly. “I’m a born and raised New Yorker, so Spider-Man was definitely my first favorite superhero. He’ll always be number one.”

“A Spider-Man fan, huh?” Harley looked positively delighted. He shot a mischievous look at Peter. “How  _ great _ is that, Petey?”

“Awesome,” Peter grit out between clenched teeth, grimacing at the sound of his own voice. “Anyway, we should probably head back, right?” Abruptly, he stood and started stuffing papers into his backpack. Ned was slightly taken aback by the man’s shift in demeanor.

“But I want to talk about Spider-Man with Ned!” Harley whined.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to talk about superheroes.”

“But Spider-Man’s ass! Come on, Ned, you have to tell me what do you think about -”

Peter reached across the table and smacked the other man upside the head. Ned watched in amusement and shock, desperately wanting to know what Peter’s deal with Spider-Man was. Rather than push the envelope, Ned filed it away for a later discussion. For now, he stood from the table and followed his bickering coworkers. 

Ned didn’t have a care in the world. 

**)-(**

“Fuck you Osborn.”

“Look, I’m doing you a favor.”

“Are you?”

“You like the guy, don’t you?”

“I need to ease into these things, we’ve only known each other for a week!”

“No time like the present!”

“I’ve never been on a date before!” Ned’s voice was frantic. “If this is even a date!”

“Listen, you’ll be fine.”

“Harry-”

Ned could hear his friend’s laughter ringing in his ears long after they hung up. He paced around his kitchen, mind whirling with panic. Peter was a few feet away in the living room, ready to watch terrible movies, and Harry was not coming. To make matters worse, both of Ned’s housemates were gone for the weekend too. One to his parents’, the other to his girlfriends’. This meant that Ned, who was supposed to be back with popcorn, was going to be alone with Peter. In his apartment. All day. 

This was fine.

Ned threw open the microwave with more force than was necessary before grabbing the steaming popcorn bag. Everything would be okay. Ned just had to make sure he didn’t say anything stupid. He wasn’t going to comment on how nice Peter smelled, and he definitely wouldn’t cry when certain parts of his beloved movies hit him in the feels.

Resolute, Ned poured the popcorn into a bowl and headed down the hallway toward the living room. Putting on his game face, he walked into the living room with his head held high.

The living room was empty. 

_ The fuck? _

Peter’s bag was still on the floor, the TV was on and the man clearly hadn’t left Ned’s apartment. Before he could call out, Ned heard movement down the hall. Curious, he made his way toward the bedrooms, barely making a noise along the carpeted hallway.

Inside Ned’s room, he found Peter. The other man examined the photo wall above Ned’s desk. It had taken him hours to arrange the damn thing, so he was proud that Peter appreciated it at least. Oblivious, it seemed like Peter hadn’t noticed Ned yet. He took the opportunity to appraise the man once more. Standing in the soft glow of a desk lamp, with hands in his pockets and a smile on his face while taking in the puzzle pieces of Ned’s life, Ned realized he was well and truly fucked.

Peter looked like he belonged there. A glimpse into a life Ned would never have.

Unexpectedly, Peter spoke. “Sorry, had to use the bathroom. Saw the pictures on your wall and decided to take a peek. Your parents are artists?” His gaze slid from the wall to where Ned hovered in the doorway.

Ned stood ramrod straight, thankful for the soft lighting to hide his spreading blush. “Uhhh, yeah,” he stammered out. The internal freak-out that was fighting its way to the surface was pushed back down.  _ How long did he know I was here for? _ Recovering swiftly, Ned continued, “I grew up above their studio and in a very...carefree home. They were stereotypical artists, open to love, freedom and expression. It made for weird PTA meetings, but coming out was a walk in the park. I never had to worry about what they thought.” 

Ned tried to stop talking. He really did, but his mouth just wouldn’t stop moving. After blurting out another round of potentially embarrassing information, Ned stopped to take a breath. “Sorry, you probably didn’t want to know all that.” He looked down at his Captain America socks. There was a hole in his pinky toe.

“No, it’s why I asked,” Peter assured him, moving closer to where Ned stood. “I mean, I was wondering about them. They seem cool.”

“The coolest,” Ned agreed. “Well, maybe not by the usual standards, but by mine.”

“I trust your standards,” Peter offered a small smile. Ned believed him. Before he had time to dissect whatever moment they were having, Peter moved on. He pointed to a picture of Ned’s high school graduation. “This Harry? I recognize him from your desktop background.”

Ned tried not to dwell on that fact. “Yeah, that’s Harry and Betty.” He walked forward and set the popcorn down. In his haste to find Peter, Ned didn’t realize he brought it with. “We’ve known each other for years. They both went to Empire State, but Harry stayed here in New York while Betty moved to D.C. for work. We all still keep in touch, though.”

“And Harry’s the one coming over later, right?”

“Yeah. Well, normally. Actually,” Ned awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, “he’s not coming today. He called when I was downstairs.”

“Oh.” Peter stood a little straighter. Ned tried to ignore how he visibly swallowed. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, his dad is kind of demanding his presence and he can’t really say no.” Ned didn’t offer up further explanation.

“Gotcha.”

“Um,” Ned looked back down the hallway, toward the living room. “The movie starts at ten. Do you wanna…” He trailed off

“Yes, absolutely.” Peter made his way back down the hall a few steps behind Ned. “What’s the first movie?”

Ned couldn’t help but grin. “Ghost Shark.”

Peter’s eyebrows scrunched together. Ned laughed at his reaction while they settled into his shitty sectional, now-lukewarm popcorn sitting between them. “I know, I know. It’s an older one, and it’s so bad. Not as bad as Revenge of the Anaconda, but pretty up there.” 

“God,” Peter groaned. “I have no idea what I agreed to, do I?”

Ned laughed again, passing Peter a Pepsi and feeling slightly less nervous. 

Barely ten minutes into the movie, Peter groaned in frustration. “This is awful.” He continued tossing popcorn high into the air, catching it in his mouth. So far, Peter had yet to miss a single kernel (not like Ned was keeping track).

“Yeah, the worst,” Ned agreed.

“I mean...this is almost tragic.”

“Indeed.”

Peter paused. 

“Ned...I think I kind of love it.”

“Of course you do. Just wait for the toilet scene.”

“The what?!”

**)-(**

Just like that, Peter and Ned were kind of...best friends?

The next Monday, Peter brought Ned and only Ned coffee (his heart still hadn’t recovered). They talked about the upcoming Saturday for thirty minutes before even considering work. Ned already knew Peter hated bitter coffee, much to his chagrin, but he was appalled to learn that the other man drank hot chocolate in the middle of the summer for a sugar high. 

On Wednesday, Peter insisted they eat at a deli in Queens for the best sandwich in New York. They earned a reprimanding from Lex for their extra long lunch break, but it was worth swapping schoolyard stories with Peter. There was a moment, when Ned spoke about his bullying, that Peter reached across the table and squeezed his hand, nodding in understanding. Ned replayed it in his mind for the rest of the week. 

Totally worth it. 

On Thursday, while Ned and his coworkers hustled through lunch, Harley ordered pizza. Peter sat on Ned’s desk while they ate, chatting with everyone but keeping his focus on Ned the whole time. He was almost overwhelmed with being the center of someone’s attention.

Little things continued to happen over the next few weeks. It was kind of perfect, how Ned and Peter clicked. It felt like they’d been friends all of their lives, even while learning things about each other. Ned still felt closer with everyone else, and Harley was becoming - dare he say - a close friend, but there was something about Peter. 

“You like him,” Betty observed while the two facetimed one night. Ned was still in the lab and they were keeping him company. This project was due first thing, and Ned didn’t trust himself to finish at home in the comfort of his bed. “Not just in a ‘oh he’s the cute guy’ kind of way. You  _ like _ him.” 

Ned’s typing abruptly halted, fingers poised over the keyboard, while he tried to figure out what to say. Who was he to argue though? It was true. 

How could someone _ not _ like Peter? The man was wickedly smart, and produced almost unparalleled work while in his element. Peter was cute, obviously, and so considerate of everyone around him. Ned was frequently gifted with pastries and snacks, and his favorite music was always on the speakers in their workshop. Peter made sure Ned was invited wherever their colleagues went, and seemed to genuinely enjoy Ned’s time. They laughed, joked and had serious conversations.

Ned had honestly never had a relationship quite like his and Peter’s. Peter constantly sought out Ned as much as Ned sought out Peter. In short, Peter was kind of the best, and Ned thinks he’s completely, irrevocably head over heels for him. 

“Well,” Ned interrupted his own internal monologue about Peter to answer Betty, “there is this one thing about him.”

“Oh?” Betty narrowed their eyes. “What about him?”

Peter had this thing he did, where he would just...disappear. Sometimes it was in the middle of the work day, sometimes it was when he and Ned were on lunch break, sometimes it was when they were watching movies on the weekend. Every time, Peter would run off with a lame excuse about family, work or bathroom. Harley made it seem like no big deal (when Ned inevitably messaged him later that night), which was always enough to placate himl. 

No matter what, the situation was just...weird. 

“Maybe he’s got IBS or something?” Betty suggested. “People get super embarrassed about it.”

“I guess so.” The explanation still didn’t sit quite right with Ned. “Other than whatever that is, he’s amazing, and I’m hopeless.”

Betty smiled and pressed their hands to their chest. “Our little Ned, all grown up with grown up feelings.”

He counteracted the statement by sticking his tongue out. Her laugh drew a smile from him and the conversation drifted. 

Ned finished up the project shortly after and bid Betty goodbye, blowing them a kiss before hanging up. All that remained was to type up his report and email it to Lex. Then he could fall into the warm embrace of his loving bed. Ned almost wished he hadn’t spent two hours distracted by the knowledge that Peter and Harley sparred on the weekends, but...shit happens. 

Listen, Ned was only human, and the images were too easily conjured up in his mind. How was he supposed to test code when that was all he could think about?

While double checking his report for grammatical errors, Ned saw something flash by the window. Though concerned, he chalked it up to sleep deprivation. That is, until something sped by his window once more in a blur of blue and red. Forcing his eyes to focus beyond the glass, Ned’s jaw dropped. He gaped, like a fish out of water. 

_ Oh my god.  _

_ Oh my fucking god, is that Spider-Man?! _

He scrambled to his feet while the masked figure clicked something on the suit. The fingertips lit up and the superhero used them to....draw a square? The glass seemed to blur as he did so, creating a space large enough for someone to slide through, which Spider-Man did. Ned pinched himself to make sure this wasn’t a fever dream. Feet first, the hero eased himself through the square - which was solid glass seconds ago - and landed on the floor of the lab. 

He seized up at the sight of Ned. 

“Holy shit,” Ned cried out. “Holy shit, it’s Spider-Man.”

Spider-Man nodded. 

“Oh my god, this is the best day of my life. The actual best day. I mean, I thought Tony Stark showing up at my apartment would top the charts, because that was fucking incredible, but this? This is amazing. You’re amazing. I’ve been obsessed with you since high school, man. Although I realize I probably, seriously, shouldn’t say that, but, can you blame me? New York’s hero, walking into the lab where I work. Incredible.”

Ned took a breath. 

“But also, may I just take a second and ask about the thing you just did, with the window? Because that was groundbreaking. I haven’t heard about anything like that. It feels magical, but Spider-Man doesn’t have magic powers. You don’t, right? You use tech - I think. Except for your strength, that can’t be tech. Unless it's like Captain America?” Ned’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “But then that still doesn’t explain what you just did with your suit. I gotta figure out how you changed the actual components of the window to be something you just slide through. That’s unheard of. And, like, so dangerous. Which makes sense why you wouldn’t want people knowing about it. Right.”

Ned clamped his mouth shut, mortified by himself but unsure how to stop. “Can you, like, say something? Cause I’m going to keep freaking out if you don’t stop me, and trust me, nobody wants to sit here and listen to me going on-”

“Hello.”

“Jesus Chri-” Ned jumped, heart practically stopping in his chest. The voice that spoke was deep, growl-like, and fucking terrifying. “Dude, what the hell, is that your voice? That can’t be! How do you not scare the shit out of children.”

“It’s just a tool to disguise my voice,” Spider-Man said, hands up in a ‘surrender’ gesture. “Sorry, I don’t have anything other than this setting.”

“Right,” Ned nodded, shifting back to business mode. “We need to fix that.”

“We?” 

“Yeah, this is like, not suitable for kids, man. No offense.” Ned threw in the last part haphazardly. This was his idol he was talking to, after all. 

“I...would appreciate that.”

“Awesome,” Ned whispered. In the silence, he and Spider-Man continued to awkwardly stand, staring at one another. Ned shifted on his feet. “Hey, Mr. Spider-Man, sir, not that I didn’t enjoy meeting you, but...erm....why are you here?”

Spider-Man’s shoulders slumped a bit. The vibe Ned got wasn’t sad, but, shockingly, embarrassed. Maybe. Probably. 

“I actually came to wor - um, to leave some notes for Peter. I have a new idea for something my web fluid could do, and that’s his area so, you know.” Spider-Man trailed off, waving a hand dismissively.

“Peter works on Avengers tech still?” Ned gaped. “Oh my  _ god _ , he’s even cooler.”

Spider-Man’s resulting chuckle sounded vaguely evil, but Ned could tell it was amusement. 

“Hey, while you’re still here, do you want…” Ned started to get too excited and almost tripped over his words. “I could add a voice filter code - it wouldn’t take long. Just so you don’t terrify any innocent people tonight.”

“Yeah, that could be - I would really appreciate it,” Spider-Man answered. “I’d have to take the suit off, though.”

“Yeah, I can...look away?” Ned asked more than told.

Spider-Man shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.” The hero looked off to the side. “Be right back.”

Ned sat back in his desk chair while exhaling deeply. “Hey, it’s cool. It’s cool. You’re going to be around Spider-Man. This is a dream come true, but don’t fuck it up,” he muttered to himself. To keep busy, Ned emailed his report over to Lex so it was out of the way. By the time Spider-Man came back into the room, he would be ready for whatever came next. 

Or at least, Ned thought he was ready. 

Spider-Man stood before him in nothing but a pair of boxers, face covered by a haphazardly made mask. Ned couldn’t see his face or hair, but that paled in comparison to what he could see. Broad shoulders, painfully well developed arms, a full rack of abs, and muscular thighs greeted Ned.

Accepting he would take the ‘L’ tonight, Ned let himself gaze at the ‘v’ of Spider-Man’s abdominals and spent a few seconds too long admiring said muscular thighs with a light dusting of hair down his legs. 

Ned had to forcibly wrench his gaze away before he started staring at Spider-Man’s ass. 

The superhero held a metallic spider in his hand, which he awkwardly held out for Ned as they both pretended things were normal. Ned accepted the trinket gladly, ignoring the thrill from their fingertips brushing. After a few moments of examination with no help from the other man, Ned found a small pressure point on the head of the spider that slid open. He watched in awe as the nanotech unfolded to raise a USB drive, which he immediately swiped to plug into his computer. 

Slack jawed in awe, Ned’s eyes bounced around the screen as line after line of code for the Iron-Spider suit filled his desktop. 

_ This is surreal _ , he thought. Spider-Man wasn’t talking, but they were sitting in the same space, and Ned was hunting for the perfect place to add an ‘if’ clause. While working, he ended up getting a little overenthusiastic and set up a slew of voice options for the hero. This way, Spider-Man could easily access his existing interrogation voice, regular voice, female voice, an accented voice, and countless other options Ned added. 

Why did Spider-Man need so many options? He didn’t, honestly, but Ned was there, and Ned was having a grand time. 

His fingers worked furiously on the keyboard, while Ned tried and failed not to google the incredibly sexy superhero beside him. “You know, while I was searching for voice coding I came across something labeled ‘Heat Signature Vision’. It looked unfinished and had a lock on it. Is it not working?”

Spider-Man shook his head. 

“Hmm. Unfinished, or can’t get it working?”

He held up two fingers. 

“The second?”

A nod. 

“I think I know what to do. Do you mind if I look at it?”

And this is how Ned spent three hours tweaking Spider-Man’s suit. 

Spider-Man clearly wasn’t speaking without the mask, but that didn’t mean Ned couldn’t talk. So, he did. He spoke about his ideas as they came, every so often looking to the superhero next to him for permission. If he received approval, he’d get to work on the next bit and ramble about school or about work, and how he couldn’t wait to talk to Peter about it. 

“He’s going to do that thing where he gets all weird talking about superheroes, but let me just say, this is too awesome not to share. I already want to share everything with him, and this is just too big a thing to hold back.”

Ned paused, looking over at his companion. “If you see him, don’t tell him I said that. That’s weird. Shit.”

Spider-Man coughed out a laugh, and it was fine again. 

Eventually, Ned’s self-control told him to stop playing with the tech and holding up a superhero who could be saving people. With a few more strokes of his keyboard, Ned declared the work finished and unplugged the device. He awkwardly stuck out a hand, breath catching when Spider-Man’s hands brushed across his palm again. He wondered if the hero could sense it, could hear how loud his heart was beating, even three hours after their initial meeting. 

Ned really hoped Spider-Man didn’t have super hearing or something. 

The superhero held up a hand, telling Ned to wait, and quickly backed out of the room. Ned began packing up his things, briefly wondering how he was supposed to sleep tonight. 

In a flash, Spider-Man was back. “How’s it sound now?” he asked, arms open as if presenting something. The voice that filtered out was deep, but had a calming lilt to it. It was a far cry from the growl of terror Ned previously experienced. He saw this as an absolute win.

“So much better,” Ned sighed in relief. “Like, seriously dude. So much better. No terrifying children in the alleyways anymore.”

“Do you think I fight in alleyways?”

“I guess?” Ned paused while he contemplated. “I don’t actually know how superheroing works.”

“That’s exactly how it works.”

Ned liked to think the hero was grinning behind his mask. “Oh, dope.”

Spider-Man laughed, and Ned found himself laughing too, pleased with the sincerity. “Well, Mr. Spider-Man, sir, it was a pleasure to meet you.”

“It was...good to meet you too, Ned.”

Just like that, Spider-Man turned and dove back through his magical window-square. He flipped and clung to the glass long enough to retrace his previous square before setting it back to normal. He waved to Ned a final time before kicking off the glass. 

After waiting for exactly one second, Ned fumbled for his phone. Harry was not going to  _ believe  _ this. 

**)-(**

Ned walked into work the next morning to find Tony Stark leaning against his desk, chatting with Lex and looking through some files. He nearly dropped his and Peter’s coffees, feet refusing to move forward. 

Peter slid up to him with a small smile. His hand wrapped around Ned’s wrist, thumb running along the skin there in a soothing motion. “Don’t freak out, okay? It’s fine.”

“Easy for you to say,” Ned muttered. He appreciated Peter’s attempt to placate him, but it didn’t stop his mind from spinning. “Why is he here?” Ned dropped his voice down to a whisper. “At my desk? Did I-?”

“Nedward.” Tony said sternly.

Peter moved out of his way, breezily grabbing his coffee and staying put beside Ned. Mr. Stark shifted against the desk and set aside the files from earlier. He crossed his arms, staring at Ned expectantly. 

“Sir,” Ned squeaked. Peter elbowed him. He cleared his throat and started again, “Mr. Stark, sir.” 

“A little birdie told me some interesting news,” Mr. Stark drawled. “Or, I guess I should say, a little _ spider. _ ”

The room was immediately blanketed by silence. Mr. Stark’s words had caught all of their attention. Even Gwen turned from her table in surprise. 

“Um,” Ned searched for the right thing to say, “it just kind of happened, sir, I didn’t mean to overstep or disrespect. He was here, I was here, and I saw an opportunity to help and also get my hands on some of the most impressive tech I’ve ever seen, like, really sir, a masterpiece, truly.”

Mr. Stark’s lips twisted, as if resisting a smile. “I appreciate that. I went ahead and looked at Spidey’s suit and the adjustments you made. They are...quite impressive. You finished the heat signature coding I was working on in under fifteen minutes and got it to run flawlessly.” 

Ned’s hands shook. His voice remained calm though. “Oh.”

“I actually came here to commend you. It was a job well done, Nedward.” 

Ned was dumbfounded. What was he supposed to say to that? Peter elbowed him again. “Thank you, Mr. Stark, sir, thank you.”

Mr. Stark stood, humor still evident on his face. He sighed before pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. “Parker, with me.” A finger was pointed in Peter’s direction before Mr. Stark pushed off the desk.

Peter paled. “Um, sir-”

“Did that sound like a debate?” Mr. Stark, still smiling, had an added edge to his voice. “Now.”

Peter glanced at Ned with a grimace before turning and following Mr. Stark from their lab. The nosy part of Ned wanted to follow, but seconds after the doors shut, his coworkers descended all at once. 

“What the hell?” Lex’s expression was shocked, glancing between Ned and the doors. “Did you seriously get your hands on Avengers tech?”

“What’s Spider-Man like?” Gwen posed her question timidly, though eagerness was still present. She stood closer to Ned than she’d ever come before.

Harley’s already present frown deepened. “Did you hear him speak?”

“I did, he’s so cool and super hot.” Ned glanced between Gwen and Lex eagerly. His gaze fell on Harley, “I only heard him through a filter. I don't know what he actually sounds like. That’s kind of what started it, to be honest.”

Lex made a face. Ned tried again. “He spoke through this really freaky filter, and I was like ‘Dude, if you’re going to disguise your voice, make it less threatening’ and then I was like ‘Wait, I can do that for you’ and then he took off his suit and gave it to me.”

“He took off his suit?” Harley snapped, looking towards the door. “Jesus, Mary, Joseph.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“I mean, yeah, but he covered his face?” Ned asked more than stated.

“Ned,” Lex giggled. “Was he wearing underwear?”

At that, Ned’s face did its best impression of a tomato. “Yes, Lex, he was.” He paused. “Nothing else though.”

Lex threw her head back with near maniacal laughter while Gwen turned away in embarrassment. Ned awkwardly chuckled and glanced over at Harley for support. The normally chatty man stood stoic. He looked at Ned strangely. 

“What?” Ned asked, moving back towards his desk, suddenly self conscious again. “Why do you feel strongly about Spider-Man hanging around me.”

“It was careless, that’s all.” Harley sighed before scratching at the back of his neck. “You’re one of the good ones, Ned, but Spider-Man strolling around with only his face covered and no clothes is...I don’t know. Like I said, careless.”

Ned tilted his head, observing Harley’s tense shoulders and set jaw. “You know him, and care about him.”

“I do.” Harley’s answer was soft, worried. “You know, I’m actually gonna give him a call. Be back in a bit to talk about the upgrade they’re thinking of for the Stark pad.”

As Harley strode away from the lab, Ned noticed that he left his phone behind. 

**)-(**

Ned’s co-workers quickly moved on from the Spider-Man incident. Peter and Harley acted a little strangely any time the incident was brought up, but it only lasted a few hours on the same day that Mr. Stark came to see them. Other than that, it was business as usual. 

Until Friday. 

Amalia strolled into the lab with the full force of her charm aimed right at Ned. He hadn’t seen her except in flashes since his first week at Stark Industries. He suddenly recalled her offer to call any time, but didn’t think she’d meant it. It didn’t make sense for her to want Ned’s friendship when they didn’t work together, and she was a stunningly beautiful woman with wonderful social skills. 

As such, Ned jumped in surprise when Amalia confidently leaned against his desk. The interest of his coworkers was already peaked by her bold entrance. She pouted. “You haven’t called.”

Ned was very aware of Peter’s head snapping up. Harley stopped welding, Lex blatantly gaped, and Gwen’s head turned a little bit in her chair. 

“I mean, I thought we  _ clicked _ ,” Amalia frowned, “but you haven’t called or texted, and I’m feeling a little used and abused.”

In front of Ned, Peter’s pencil snapped. A deafening silence followed. He cleared his throat while a blush steadily spread across his face. In a tight tone, he apologized. “Sorry. Wasn’t paying attention.”

“Are you one of Ned’s friends?” Amalia asked, batting her eyelashes at Peter. He nodded stiffly. She pouted even more and turned back to Ned. “So you can make friends at work with other people, but not me?”

“I’m sorry,” Ned finally managed to stammer out. “Thank you for helping me get here my first day. It meant a lot. I just didn’t think you really wanted me to call.”

“Obviously, I wanted you to call,” Amalia chided, laying a hand to rest on Ned’s forearm. The vein in Peter’s forehead bulged, but Ned hadn’t noticed. “I thought I’d found a kindred spirit.”

“Oh,” Ned chuckled, “like Anne and Diane.”

Amaila’s face lit up and she grabbed his hands. “I knew it. We’re going to be best friends. Now, as my new best friend, you have to come to mine and Hanna’s party tonight. There will be some work people, but it’ll be a blast and you can meet some other adults in New York.”

“A party?” Ned repeated, voice raising an octave. He flashed back to every party he’d ever gone to, where Harry and Betty had been wooed off by various gorgeous strangers and Ned was left standing in a corner, the awkward, fat loser nobody wanted to talk to. His gut clenched at the memories and he floundered for a reason to refuse. “I don’t know, Amalia, I’m not really a party guy.”

“What if you brought a date?” She persisted, a sense of urgency in her voice. “That way you felt more comfortable!”

Ned glanced at Peter for a fraction of a section, and Amalia ponced. “Bring Peter!” Her smile was almost manic. Ned was concerned.

The man in question shot a dirty look Amalia’s way as he took in her too eager smile. Ned tried to do damage control, but found he could only look at Peter, desperately hoping he would say no and end Ned’s suffering. If he brought Peter, gorgeous and wonderful Peter, his attention would immediately be pulled away by the strangers who would no doubt flock to him.

Ned would still end up in a corner, alone. 

“Uh, yeah, that could be fun,” Peter stammered out, clearly unsure. “I mean, if you want, I can-um-I could definitely go. With you.”

“Yeah,” Ned squeaked. _ What?! No! _ “Um, why doesn’t everyone come?” His eyes frantically roved around the room at his coworkers. “Team bonding, it’ll be...fun.”

Peter’s jaw set for a moment, but he nodded. “Yeah. The team.”

“Okay,” Amalia said, shooting Ned a glare he didn’t think he deserved. Didn’t Amalia want him there, anyway? “That sounds great. How about you give me your number this time so I know you won’t forget me again?”

“You’re impossible to forget,” Ned told her fondly, to which she beamed. Peter’s scowl deepend across from him. “But yeah, okay. You can text me the details.”

“Brilliant.”

**)-(**

When Ned opened the door, Lex's jaw dropped. He tried not to squirm under the attention, but her gaze was weirdly zeroed in on his shorts. As her gaze traveled down to Ned’s shoes, his outfit thoroughly assessed, Lex’s eyebrows shot up. 

"Damn, Leeds," She was  _ grinning _ , “you sure know how to clean up."

“Don’t make it weird,” he demanded, closing the door behind them. 

"Then start explaining,” she fired back. “You wear jeans to work in a high class business and sometimes have graphic t-shirts on. How am I supposed to react to this? What even is  _ this _ ?”

“Uh...fashion?”

“Ned.”

Ned sighed. When they made it to her car, he leaned against the door. “Look, my parents are artists. I can’t draw or paint to save my life, but I was taught about color and shape from a very young age, in more depth than your average ten year old. So I know a little bit about what looks good together. My dad is also a big guy, so he taught me how to dress in a social setting.”

Lex raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “I’m not surprised you can look good. What I’m surprised about is how bold your choices are. Red pants? Never would have guessed.”

“Hey! They give me confidence.”

“Pants?”

“It used to be a hat, we’re making progress.” Ned shot her a sly smile.

“Are there pictures?”

“Not that you’ll ever see.”

Lex swore. and ducked into the car. 

The drive took longer than was preferred. She was an angry driver, though, and pretty impressive with how she maneuvered between the other cars. Ned would have commended her for the skills if he hadn’t spent the whole ride gripping the ‘oh shit’ bar for dear life. 

“People like you are why I don’t normally drive,” he muttered at one point. 

“Did you wanna pay for a cab to Brooklyn?”

Ned had to concede to that. “Definitely not.”

“Thought so.”

Ned’s phone dinged, He distracted the lurch of his stomach by reading his most recent texts. There were two messages. One from Amalia, who he’d been chatting with about his outfit and what was appropriate for the party. She’d replied with three heart-eye emojis plus two thumbs up when he’d sent her a picture. 

The other message was from Peter, simply saying,  _ Excited for tonight. _

Ned’s stomach hit the floor as he re-read the message. Excited for tonight. What did that mean? Was Peter excited to hang out with everyone? To go to a party? To...see Ned? It makes sense, right? They’re friends, working toward being best friends. They enjoy spending time together. Ned is always excited to see Peter - it’s the highlight of his day. 

But like, for different reasons. 

_ Unless _ ...a hopeful voice whispered.

_ No.  _ Ned shouted back.

_ But what if _ …the voice whispered again. The words sweet, tempting.

_ Stop it.  _ Ned sternly reprimanded himself.

He groaned and smacked his hand over his head, vaguely wondering if he could time travel and stop himself from reading the message. He didn’t need to freak out over it. Right? He was excited to see Peter, and he lived in a world where Peter was also excited to see him. Simple. 

“You okay over there?” Lex asked. She looked at him weirdly between scoping for street parking. “I know it was bad, but like...I slowed down just for you. I see all the people.” 

“Totally cool,” Ned croaked. Lex’s expression was full of doubt, but she shrugged and pulled into a spot. For as much as Lex liked to needle him and the rest of the team, she always seemed to know when someone wasn’t in the mood to play around. Ned kind of loved that about her. 

No sooner had they locked the car and started down the sidewalk than someone screamed. They both turned toward the sound. Ned caught sight of a woman pressed up against one of the shops across the street. He marveled at the stupidity of the guy yanking her bag from her hands. Robbing people in broad daylight in front of everyone? Honestly. 

“Hey!” Ned yelled, waiting for a car to pass before crossing the street. “Leave her alone man!”

The other man hadn’t noticed Ned yet. He successfully yanked the bag out of the woman’s grip. A bystander much closer than Ned reached out to stop the thief, but suddenly stepped back in horror, hands out. Despite Lex’s protest, Ned continued wandering closer to the scene, coming to the other samaritan’s aid.

Though the sounds of New York raged on in the background, Ned’s entire being narrowed down to the sound of a gun being cocked. A gun that was currently aimed at his chest.

_ So not stupid. Just bold.  _

“Step back, big guy,” the thief growled. “Don’t make me shoot ya.”

“Look, I don’t want to get shot,” Ned retorted testily. He was not going to die in the streets while wearing his best party outfit. In front of his friends. Not today. “I’m just saying you should give that woman her purse back.”

“Don’t pull the hero act, chubs.”

“Really? You gotta be a thief and a dick?”

Ned couldn’t help but grin at the familiar automated voice, the one he’d programmed himself. The thief’s eyes widened. “Shi-”

Spider-Man shot out a web while sliding into place next to Ned, webbing covering the barrel of the gun. 

“Now, don’t bother shooting, okay? Turn the safety on.” Spider-Man spoke casually, as if making a request for him to set down a remote. The thief listened, clicking it into place and letting go. Spider-Man jerked his hand back and caught the gun before aiming at the thief. “Appreciate it, bud. Now, are you gonna come over here, are you going to run and make it harder? I’ve kind of got plans, so it would be really cool if you - damn it, come  _ on _ .”

Spider-Man shot more webbing at the guy’s feet, sighing dramatically when the would-be gunman tripped to the ground and smacked his chin. He pulled on the webbing while everyone watching gave a few claps. The superhero properly restrained the criminal and sealed his mouth shut to stop the endless stream of protests. 

“We meet again,” Spider-Man said after turning the woman’s purse back over. He leaned against a parking meter, almost as if displaying himself. “How ya been?”

“Um,” Ned blinked, “good. You?”

“Oh, you know,” Spider-Man shrugged. “Kind of waiting to see you again.”

Ned’s heart might as well have stopped. “Oh. Glad to know you’re all over the city. So, you know, I can see you too.”

_ What. The. Fuck.  _

Spider-Man laughed. “Just doing my duty.”

“So, saving me was your duty?” Ned’s heart was beating so fast that he thought he might go into cardiac arrest on the spot.

“Who says it can’t also be a pleasure?”

“Do you normally chat up everyone you save?” A blush was furiously making an appearance on the apples of Ned’s cheeks.

“Only the really cute guys who fix my tech.” Spider-Man’s confidence was oddly comforting to Ned.

“Guess I’ll have to keep fixing your tech so you’ll keep coming around.”

“Well, if you insist.” Ned looked at his feet, warring with himself. Flirting with Spider-Man was unexpected and...fun. There was something familiar about him, and even though they’d only met once before. The comfort of each other’s company was already established. 

Ned’s thoughts traveled to Peter, and the way Ned felt when he laughed. There was little reason for guilt, yet something twisted in his chest. “Uh, I’ve gotta run, but it was really good to see you. If you ever wanna...chat, you know where to find me.”

“See you around, Ned.” Spider-Man waved while Ned turned to leave. He found himself face-to-face with Lex, who’d apparently made her way across the road. Instead of letting her get the chance to do anything, he roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her back toward the car. 

“Wow,” she giggled. “I just...wow.”

“Please don’t say anything.” Ned ran a hand over his face, trying to calm the thumping of his heart.

“I won’t.”

“Lex.”

“I won’t.”

**)-(**

“Spider-Man was totally flirting with him!”

Ned pressed the glass to his forehead in hopes of lowering his temperature. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“He literally told you he was waiting to see you,” Lex argued. “And said you were cute.” She squealed.

“Sounds kinda like flirting to me,” Amalia grinned, hip bumping Ned’s. “Peter, Harley don’t you know him too? You think he was flirting?”

Peter shrugged, suddenly very interested in the contents of his solo cup. He looked gorgeous, of course, in a plain t-shirt and black jeans. It shouldn’t have been fair, how simple clothing made him look like a runway model, but there he was. Peter looked uncomfortable with the topic while everyone else was oblivious, obsessed. 

“He was definitely flirting,” Harley laughed. Ned forced himself back into the conversation. “Spider-Man doesn’t swing around calling people cute. Only the people he likes. Right, Peter?” Harley elbowed Peter, hard.

“Right,” Peter huffed. 

“Awwe!” Amalia clasped her hands together. “Spider-Man has a crush on you.”

“That’s kind of amazing,” Betty offered quietly. “It’d be cute.”

“Cute?” Ned asked, surprised. “Me and Spider-Man?”

“Civilian tech guy with superhero,” Hannah said, bored. “It’s an overused best friend cliche in comic books, why not make it romance?”

“Like Oliver and Felicity,” Amalia sighed. She leaned into her girlfriend. “I’m with it.”

“Cheers to that,” Lex agreed as he held her cup up. 

Harley didn’t say anything, but looked at Ned with his head tilted in question. Ned subtly shook his head, hoping Harley understood that he didn’t want to talk about it.

The other man obviously understood, because he set his beer down on the kitchen counter. “Why is there no dancing? Other people are out dancing, but not us.”

“We’re nerds?” Gwen supplied helpfully. 

“Nonsense, my love,” Hanna scoffed. “We may be nerds, but I am not some awkward girl who stands in the kitchen. Come dance with Amalia and I.” 

Gwen was pulled away from the kitchen while Harley dragged Lex, hot on their heels. Peter started to follow, but noticed Ned unmoving from his spot by the stove. Music filtered in from the living room as their friends exited the kitchen. Peter let the door swing shut behind them. He turned and put his hands in his pockets, cautiously making his way closer to Ned. 

“Are you okay? Everyone was kind of...making a big deal of it. You looked uncomfortable.” 

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Ned tried to look away. He really did, but Peter’s eyes were wide and waiting. “I’m just not used to all the attention, I guess. Or parties. Or attention at parties.”

“Yeah, it seemed like you didn’t want to come when Amalia asked.” Peter leaned up against the counter beside him. “Didn’t go to any in high school?”

Ned screwed up his face. “Peter, I’m a fat, asian, gay nerd. Even in a school of smart people, I was the bottom of the food chain.”

“That shouldn’t matter,” Peter’s eyes turned soft, expression sincere. “You’re the coolest person I know.”

Ned flushed under the praise and pulled his gaze away. “Well, not everyone thinks legos are cool and fat people are fun to hang out with.”

“Why do you always say that?” Peter angrily pushed off the counter, despite having just settled. “You’re always making it seem like your weight is the only thing about you.”

Ned frowned. “I don’t know. It’s just this thing I’m...aware of.”

“But there’s more to you, it’s not who you are. You’re so...Ned, why do you never talk about how funny you can be? Or how smart - how you can keep up with everybody else without even trying? Or how you just  _ get  _ people, and that makes them love you?”

Unsure of how to respond, Ned looked at his feet. “I guess I just figure that everyone else sees it, so I should be sure to see it too.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Peter walked closer, resting a heavy hand on Ned’s arm. “But maybe don’t treat it like this disadvantage to you. It’s not. There’s no downside to you, Ned.”

For some reason, the warm touch of Peter’s hand on Ned’s bare skin combined with his words brought tears to Ned’s eyes. He rapidly blinked them away. “Thank you, Peter. That means a lot, coming from you.”

The ‘coming from you’ slipped out on its own accord, but Peter didn’t notice or comment. Instead, he slid his fingers down to squeeze Ned’s wrist. Ned’s breath caught, and he tried not to let on how dizzy he felt from the overwhelming combination of touch, kind words, and the stupidly sweet smile on Peter’s fucking face. 

“Sorry for the outburst,” Peter said softly. “Even if you don’t want to dance, do you want to hang out and make fun of Harley?”

Ned laughed, pleased when it drew even more of a smile from Peter. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

**)-(**

Ned was typing up a report on his computer when it dinged to notify him of a message. He let it sit for a moment, finishing up his sentence in assumption that it was just Harry waxing poetic haikus about the new trust fund guy he’d met at a fundraiser the month before.

Upon finishing the final sentence of his report, Harley distracted Ned with some questions on their latest project. Then lunch with Amalia came, and Ned’s phone sat unattended in his pocket. He went back to the lab, edited his report, and then decided to see what the latest deal was with this Eugene guy. 

  
  


_ From:  _ [ _ official_spidey@gmail.com _ ](mailto:official_spidey@gmail.com)

_ To:  _ [ _ nleeds@starkindustries.net _ ](mailto:nleeds@starkindustries.net)

_ Subject: hi _

_ Hey Ned, _

_ I don’t really know what possessed me to do this. I hope it’s okay, Tony gave me your email. You said I could reach out if I wanted to chat, and I just kind of thought it’d be nice. You seem nice. So yeah. Let me know if you’re not okay with this. _

_ Spidey _

Ned stared at his computer, dumbfounded. He had an email. Ned Leeds was working on top-notch shit at Stark Industries, and had an email from Spider-Man sitting in his work inbox. 

Just. 

Incredible. 

He hit reply, heart pumping while he typed out a response. 

  
  


_ From: Ned Leeds _

_ To: Spidey _

_ Subject: re: hi _

_ So. This is insane. A cool insane. But still insane.  _

_ Idiot, _ Ned thinks, holding the backspace.  _ Try again. _

_ Hey,  _

_ Definitely okay with this. I meant it when I said you could reach out. I mean, I’m not sure how I can relate to you and the superhero-ing thing, but I’m always here. If that counts for anything. We can talk about supervillian names (which, Mysterio? Kinda presumptions and playing into the whole ‘I’m a cool, mysterious guy” thing, but whatever) or we can talk about the best smoothie flavors. Because it’s obviously strawberry banana. It’s a classic. The classics are classic for a reason. What power they hold.  _

_ Anyways, yeah. Whatever you want to chat about. Always around.  _

_ Literally, I’m glued to my phone. I have a “Kids of These Days” problem.  _

_ Ned _

  
  


He hit send before he could second guess himself and slammed his computer shut. It was there, out in the land of the internet, and there was nothing to be done about it.

“Hey,” Peter asked carefully from across their desks. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Ned responded a little too quickly. He searched for a distraction and decided to find it in time with Peter. He couldn’t focus on anything else. “Hey, do you wanna go get smoothies?”

“Oh, yes please,” Peter grinned. "The place around the corner?"

"Perfect." 

"Cool, let me read this email and then I'm ready to go."

**)-(**

It became….a thing. 

Spidey and Ned were emailing once or twice a day. At first, it was never about anything important. They talked a lot about food joints in Queens vs. Manhattan, argued about the best spot for gyros, and shared their preferred seasons and why. 

(Spidey was a summer fan, Ned was a winter. He’d take the bitter cold over the oppressive humidity any day. Spidey like the heat. Weirdo.)

It did, however, eventually move into more serious topics. Spider-Man never really shared personal information that could give even the smallest a clue about his identity. Instead, he shared the struggle of being a superhero. Some nights, the burden of it felt heavier than the hero would like. He’d get there just a hair too late to avoid someone getting shot, have to fight for longer than he felt capable, had to choose which calls to take and which to leave...the issues piled up. 

Sometimes, Ned woke up to a long email about Spider-Man’s frustrations. He did the best he could to offer advice, but knew he was limited in that area. His focus tended to be more on the comfort side of things, making sure Spidey knew how the rest of the world felt about him, and encouraging him in the fact that sparse mistakes didn’t equate to failure. 

Ned was typing out one such email in the line for coffee with Peter. He registered that something was being said to him and paused, looking over at the beautiful boy beside him. “I’m so sorry, what did you say?”

“Just asking if you’re okay,” Peter gave an almost shy smile. “You’ve been kind of out of this morning.”

“Oh,” Ned laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, I just, uh, talking to a friend from school.”

Peter looked….disappointed? Ned knew that Peter knew he had just lied. Guilt crawled up his spine. Ned hated lying to Peter. It’s why he never did it. Besides, why was he hiding who he was talking to? It wasn’t like Peter didn’t know Spider-Man already, so it wouldn’t be a big deal. 

Except...there was a part of Ned that needed to keep the two separate. He liked Peter. The ever present mountain of emotion that Ned felt whenever they were together was proof enough. Peter gave companionship to Ned as easily as breathing, like Ned was a desirable friend. A constant turmoil warred inside of him; how could Ned measure up to this kind, beautiful man next to him? The knowledge that they weren’t even on the same playing field was like a knife in the gut. 

Ned didn’t need his jumble of feelings for Peter thrown in with the confusion that was Spider-Man. A real, honest to god superhero decided Ned was cute. He had no problem telling Ned that he liked his company, and showered him with compliments. Though Ned wasn’t ready to say he had a crush on the webslinger, there was definitely comfort in the time he spent talking to the masked hero. 

It confused Ned, enough to make him want to keep the two sides of his brain separate. 

Ned was again drawn from his thoughts when he realized that they had moved to the front of the line. Peter was talking to the woman behind the counter about her dog and smiling the same smile he shared with Harley. Familiar, warm, affectionate. Ned’s gaze followed Peter’s and found himself looking at what had to be one of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen in his life. While Ned was aware that Peter was unfairly and uncommonly attractive, this woman was…

For lack of a better word, enchanting. 

She gave Ned a weird look when she realized he was staring at her. “Look. I’m customer service nice, not let-people-stare-at-me nice. Do you want to say something to me?”

“Sorry!” Ned squeaked. “I just, uh, you know. Ned. I’m Ned. Peter’s friend.”

“You’re Ned?” the woman grinned, giving Peter an almost impressed head nod. “Alright then. Dorks for dorks.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Coffee?”

“MJ,” Peter coughed. “Can we just get the usual order?”

“Fine.” ‘MJ’ rolled her eyes. “Figure it out yourself, see if I care.”

“Michelle.”

She turned to the espresso machine. “Order will be out in a minute.” 

By the time they had the office’s usual order in hand, Ned was properly discouraged. This MJ had gotten approximately ten laughs out of Peter, and he even did that thing where he giggles and tucks his chin in. Ned had learned exactly how to get that laugh out of him and thought he was the only one who could do it. 

_ You really think other people don’t notice how incredible he is? Idiot.  _

“Um,” he found himself speaking before he could stop, “how do you know Michelle?”

“Oh, we dated back in high school,” Peter said casually while dropping a bomb on Ned’s heart. “It didn’t last long because we were better as friends, and the love between us was pretty platonic. She’s one of my closest friends.”

Of course Peter dated someone who looked like her. Ned’s voice came out strangled, despite his best efforts, “Yeah, I can tell.”

“Hey, are you sure you’re alright?” Peter pressed. His eyes scanned Ned’s form, concerned. “If you seemed off before, you definitely seem it now.”

“Totally good!” Ned chirped. Feeling like an ass for his inner turmoil, he nudged Peter’s shoulder with his own. “Wondering about this new project Lex seems to think is gonna propel our little group into the spotlight.”

Peter clearly didn’t believe him, but he let the conversation shift. 

In the back of Ned’s mind though, the image of Peter smiling at Michelle stayed fresh. 

**)-(**

Harley got a call from Peter in the middle of his and Ned’s idea workshop. Within seconds, Harley’s face drained of blood faster. 

“What?’ he snapped. “Are you serious right now, Peter? Why would you even-you know, whatever, not the time. No. I’ll see you soon, do not go anywhere.”

“Everything okay?” Ned asked, despite knowing the answer. He wondered why it was the normal thing to ask. 

“Peter, uh, Peter is with Spider-Man,” Harley answered, voice strained. He shut his laptop and tossed his notebook to the side. “I’ve gotta go, I’m sorry.”

“No problem,” Ned said. “Be safe.”

“Yeah, of course.” 

Harley grabbed his bag and ran out the door without another word. Ned glanced over to Gwen and Lex, who both looked confused. “This ever happened before?”

“Not that I know of,” Lex asked. “We knew that Peter and Harley were close to Spider-Man, but…”

“Peter is with Spider-Man at eight am,” Gwen finished. “That’s...not usual.”

Ned scooted his chair back to his own desk, trying to sort through his issues in his own head. Peter was with Spider-Man at eight in the morning. Before Peter went to work. He was with Spider-Man. 

Did Peter only spend his time with beautiful people? Ned didn’t know what Spider-Man looked like in his face, but he’d seen his body. He knew Harley. He’d met the stunning MJ. Gwen was quiet and shy, but pretty in the classical kind of way. What was he even doing spending time with Ned?

_ Get out of your own head, asshole _ , Ned thought to himself. Spider-Man, his newfound friend, was hurt. The hero was hurt badly enough for Harley to freak out and run out of work, and Ned was too busy thinking about how he would never measure up to the other people in Peter’s life. God, he was being so selfish.

He pulled up his laptop and drafted a quick email to Spider-Man. 

  
  


_ From:  _ [ _ nleeds@starkindustries.net _ ](mailto:nleeds@starkindustries.net)

_ To:  _ [ _ official_spidey@gmail.com _ ](mailto:official_spidey@gmail.com)

_ Subject: Wishing you well _

_ Hey Spidey, _

_ You’re probably not going to get this right now, but I just wanted to check in. Harley ran out pretty damn fast and looked concerned. And angry. But mostly concerned. So, I thought I’d let you know I’m thinking about you and hoping you’re alright. Get better.  _

_ Ned _

_ P.S. Peter makes really good chicken soup, if you didn’t know. You should have him make you some when you’re not feeling well. Magic. _

  
  


There. That was done. With Harley gone and the deadline for their finished plans being noon, Ned had some serious work to do. He exited his email and got down to business. 

A few hours later, Harley came back into the office. He was wearing a change of clothes and his eyes were red like he’d been crying. Ned was unsure if he should say something or not. Choosing silence, his eyes followed Harley as the other man dropped his bag down onto his chair and started shoving random things into it. Lex walked over, tactful for once, and pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

Ned turned away.

“You don’t need to worry about work today, Harls,” Lex murmured. “Go be with your friend.”

“We have all these projects due this week, and that dumpster shit-”

“Ned is taking care of it, okay? Just go home. Tell Parker not to worry about coming in, and that’ll be the end of it. I’ll call you tomorrow about coming in.” 

Harley paused. “Thanks, guys.” He looked around the room. Nothing but true gratitude shown on his face.

“No problem,” Ned said without turning. Lex muttered something along the same lines and pointed Harley back towards the door. 

Ned’s computer dinged with a new email. 

  
  


_ From:  _ [ _ official_spidey@gmail.com _ ](mailto:official_spidey@gmail.com)

_ To:  _ [ _ nleeds@satrkindustries.net _ ](mailto:nleeds@satrkindustries.net)

_ Subject: re: Wishing you well _

_ Ned, _

_ You’re the nicest person. Thank you for checking up on me. I tried to take on too many people at once, honestly. They got me with a knife that had some wicked poison, and it knocked me out pretty good. Peter and Harley worked through a solution, though. Some rest and I’ll be alright.  _

_ Honestly, I’m more worried about my relationship with Harley. He...isn’t a fan of my recklessness. I don’t think I’m being reckless, I’m just doing my job. Taking care of people. I’m observant enough for the most part. I just don’t always wake up quickly enough before my day job and that means that if I’m fighting crime in the morning, I can get a little sloppy. Harley is insistent I leave it alone in the mornings, and that I never wear my old suit, but I don’t think that’s fair to the people around me. If someone needs help, I’ve got to help them, right? It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or what suit I’m wearing. Civilian or Spider, I’m a superhero. You never really get a break from that.  _

_ Harley is like my brother. He’s my partner. But he doesn’t understand this part of it. He doesn’t want to. He wants me to be safe and I know that, I’m grateful for it. But if he loves me too, he’s got to accept that this is just a part of who I am. Nobody but other superheroes seem to understand that. Yes, I have a life and a day job and all that, but this is literally my DNA. This is who I am.  _

_ Am I being horrible? Not wanting to compromise on this?  _

_ Anyways. Thanks for listening as always. Or reading. It meant a lot that you reached out, more than you know. Talk soon.  _

_ Spidey _

  
  


_ From:  _ [ _ nleeds@starkindustries.net _ ](mailto:nleeds@starkindustries.net)

_ To:  _ [ _ official_spidey@gmail.com _ ](mailto:official_spidey@gmail.com)

_ Subject: re: Wishing you well _

_ Spidey, _

_ I’m glad you’re okay. It sounded pretty serious, and I can understand Harley’s frustration. I can also understand where you’re coming from, though. It’s a tough place to be. And honestly? I don’t think you’re a bad person, but I don’t think it's fair to Harley that there’s no compromise. 24 hrs a day you’re on alert for Spider-Man?  _

_ It’s a huge part of you, I swear I hear you when you say that, but you have other responsibilities. Work, even if it’s just “your day job” is important. Putting food on your table, respecting your boss and coworker’s time, all that shit? It’s not something to be looked at as lesser. By being in a relationship of any kind, like your friendship with Harley, you have a responsibility to be one half of a pairing. If you really are partners, he deserves some respect for his emotions and time. And let’s not forget your responsibility to yourself. How can you help anyone if you bleed out or get poisoned to death? _

_ I don’t mean to be rude, I don’t like to be so blunt. You’re just in a sticky spot (see what I did there? I’m doing finger guns) where your health needs to be a priority because if you’re down, New York (and Queens) loses a valuable protector. Iron Man and Captain America may fight the big guys, but you fight the petty crime and stop rapes and know the streets of our cities. You love our city. And to protect it, you have to also protect yourself. It’s a balance.  _

_ It’s that pesky thing called a compromise, which may not be what you want, but is probably what you need.  _

_ Hope you don’t hate me. Talk to Harley.  _

_ Ned _

**)-(**

That night, Ned received two text messages:

_ Harley: I don’t know what you did, but thank you. You’re one of the good ones, Ned.  _

_ Peter: Hey, can I come over? Kinda wanna see you.  _

Ned didn’t respond to Harley. He felt like he knew Harley enough to read the message and know the other man didn’t expect anything. Instead, he immediately texted Peter that he could head on over whenever. It was a mild night, the late August humidity giving way to a whisper of fall, so Ned decided to go wait in the makeshift garden of his apartment building. There was a conveniently placed bench for him. 

As Ned walked out of his building, he almost ran face first into Peter. Once both men gathered their bearings, Peter offered up a sheepish smile. He shoved his hands deep into the pocket of his jeans. “Hey, man.”

“Hey,” Ned parroted back, “you got here fast.”

“I was, uh…” Peter shrugged. “I was out walking, and thinking, and I ended up heading here because I wanted to see you, but I thought I should probably text first. Is that okay?”

“More than,” Ned found himself admitting. He started walking down the steps. “What were you thinking about?”

“You, mostly,” Peter blurted out before looking down at his shoes. “I’ve, uh, been trying to figure out the right way to talk to you, because my subtle signs aren’t really working.”

Ned stopped at the bottom step, taller than Peter for once. He twisted his hands together, stomach in knots. “Signs?”

“Yeah, I…” Peter stepped closer. 

Ned’s breath hitched while the sound of rushing blood thundered in his ears. How did Peter smell so good? Like fresh cotton and chocolate. Would he taste like chocolate? Ned bet Peter did, always eating hershey’s kisses and drinking hot chocolate whenever he felt like it. He’d probably taste sweet. Like Peter. 

“Ned, I think you’re incredible,” Peter started softly, tilting his chin up. “Just...so incredible…”

And then, Peter’s lips were on his.

Once Ned registered that it was happening, his lips followed Peter’s guide and soon they were kissing. God, kissing Peter felt better than Ned could have ever imagined. His lips were unbelievably soft, and he did indeed taste sweet, the hint of a hershey’s kiss still on his tongue. Ned’s body shivered all over from the goosebumps that arose with the brush of Peter’s fingertips on his jaw, right before they slid into a firm grasp in his hair. Ned gasped, arms involuntarily reaching for the other man and pulling him closer. Peter came willingly, flush against Ned and kissing hungrily. 

_ I can’t believe this,  _ Ned thought, head near combustion.  _ Oh my god, Peter is kissing me, fucking shit this is so good, but…. _

_ Why? _

In his confusion, Ned faltered. He could tell his arms slackened and he stopped moving his mouth for a moment. This caught the attention of Peter. who pulled back, a little confused and  _ so hot _ with kissed-red lips and pink cheeks. 

“Ned?” he asked. 

“What…” Ned looked for the right words to say because this was Peter and he was _ so far above _ Ned’s level and Ned could never be enough for someone like him and- “I don’t understand.”

Peter flinched and stepped back. “Oh my god. Oh my  _ god _ , I am so sorry. I thought...you’re not into this, are you? I misread-”

“No, Peter, listen-”

“It’s cool, I get it, I’ll just…” 

Peter turned to leave, walking quickly down the sidewalk. Ned wanted to yell after him, wanted to explain that he was so unbelievably into it, he just didn’t know how to process what was happening. 

But Peter was gone in the blink of an eye.

Shit. Shit shit shit shit  _ shit. _

Hands shaking, Ned dug for his phone. He cursed at himself again, searching for Peter’s name and dialing. It rang twice, then went to voicemail. 

“Fuck me,” he groaned, dialing again. 

Voicemail. 

“Come on, Peter.” Ned rubbed at prickling eyes and turned back towards his house. Did he keep calling, hoping Peter would be ready to hear him? Did he leave a voicemail trying to explain? 

He didn’t know what to-

Spider-Man. 

Ned turned and hurried into the house, past his roommates, up the stairs. He was breathing heavily by the time he made it to his desk, but he didn’t pause in digging through his bag for his laptop. He logged onto his Stark Industries email and saw that Spidey had only said:  _ Of course I don’t hate you. You’re incredible. Can I come over? I want to talk to you about something.  _

Ned breathed a sigh of relief and typed out,  _ You definitely can. And, if you don’t mind, I need your help. I fucked up with Peter, and I really like him. So much it's crazy. I need to fix it.  _

He hits send and leans back, covering his face with a groan. This evening was showing promise when Peter showed up and then Ned just fucked himself over. Why could he not find the words? He was completely incapable of speaking like a normal human, apparently. 

He’d always been better behind a keyboard. 

Should I email Peter? I could write an essay on how he makes me feel. Is that weird? That's weird. Also why am I always talking to myself? Stop!

Ned shook his head as if he could get the thoughts away physically. It was only because of this he caught a glimpse of Spider-Man hanging outside his window. 

Scrambling to his feet, Ned hurried to the window and unlatched it. As he pushed it up, Spider-Man slid through the open space with ease. He landed on his feet, softly, straightening up and looking right at Ned through those lenses. 

“Hey,” Ned said. 

Hey?  _ Hey? _

“What’s going on?” Spider-Man asked, voice filter on. “You said you...messed up with Peter?”

“You don’t want to go first?”

“I think it’s best you do. My thing can wait.”

“Okay.” Ned swallowed. He turned away, feeling the need to pace aching in his legs. “So, I like Peter. And when I say I like him, I mean I really like him. You know when people say ‘this person thinks this person is the best thing since sliced bread?’ Well I think that about him. I love a good sandwich, you know? Sliced bread? Top notch. But Peter is just...he’s amazing. He’s kind, he’s gorgeous, he’s so fucking smart it blows me away, and I just...God, Spidey. I like him so much.”

Ned stopped pacing to turn and look at Spidey, who was standing exactly where he was when he came into the window. “Spidey?”

“You...like Peter?” His voice, even his fake one, sounded  _ wrong _ . Almost strangled, like he was fighting to get the words out. “You seriously like Peter Parker?”

“Yeah,” Ned said defensively. “Is that a problem?”

“No it’s-” Spidey jerked, turned. “Ned, if I tell you something, you cannot freak out. You can’t scream, and you can’t tell anyone.”

“Um.” Ned stepped back. “Not gonna lie, Spidey, I’m a little freaked.”

“Just, come on Ned. Do you promise not to freak out?”

“I promise to...try my very best. In my defense, I don't know what's coming." 

"Fair enough." 

Spider-Man stepped closer to Ned, hand raising. Slowly, he brought his hand to his chest and pressed the spider emblem on the suit. It took only a moment, but the suit began to retract. It crawled up his legs and arms and uncovered his face, momentarily distracting Ned with the efficient process before he focused on the face in front of him and saw—

Peter. 

His Peter. 

Peter Parker. 

"Oh." Ned's voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. "I, um, this is. Huh. Wow. I felt like I was smart, like not to sound egotistical, but I'm rather intelligent and I try to be smart and aware and this? I missed this. How did I miss this? Jesus, you're, I mean—"

"Ned," Peter cut him off, stepping closer with his hands out. "Ned, please don't freak out. I'm still me. I'm Spidey, I'm Peter, I'm me."

"You flirted with me," is what Ned managed to say, blurting it out kind of abruptly. Peter winced. He tried again. "As Spider-Man. You flirted with me. Not as Peter."

"What are you even talking about?" Peter's forehead scrunched up. "I asked you out the first week I knew you. I touch you all the time, and I don't touch other people. I try to spend as much time as possible with you. I tell you how amazing you are whenever the chance arrives." 

"But Spidey said I was cute, he wanted to be around me…" Ned shook his head. "Why?"

"Because I like you, and it was easier to flat out say it as Spider-Man. And I couldn't talk to you about superhero stuff as Peter, so I did as Spidey, and then I liked you even more because of it. And then me, Peter-Spidey, wanted to see you tonight because I wanted to tell you, and then I got caught up in it and I kissed you."

Ned contemplates. "But why?"

"Why?" Peter repeats dumbly. "Ned, do you even listen when I compliment you? I was so sure you knew how I felt after Amalia's party. I was pretty clear that you're kind of my favorite person." 

_ “But there’s more to you, it’s not who you are. You’re so...Ned, why do you never talk about how funny you can be? Or how smart - how you can keep up with everybody else without even trying? Or how you just get people, and that makes them love you?” _

_ Unsure of how to respond, Ned looked at his feet. “I guess I just figure that everyone else sees it, so I should be sure to see it too.” _

_ “There’s nothing wrong with that.” Peter walked closer, resting a heavy hand on Ned’s arm. “But maybe don’t treat it like this disadvantage to you. It’s not. There’s no downside to you, Ned.” _

"I didn't think…" Ned pulled reeled back from the memory of that night. He looked down, where Peter's hands were reaching for his. Their fingers intertwined, palms pressed together, and his eyes shut. "I just don't know how to take what you said and put it with me. You're so amazing, and hot, and funny, and I'm just...not used to being the one somebody likes."

Peter pulled Ned closer. They were flush against each other now. "Ned, you're gorgeous. You're the most incredible person I've never known. I like you, so much more than I know how to say. I have since our first conversation. And if you don't want anything else, that's fine. I'm more than okay being your friend because I just want to be around you. But if you can trust me, trust that I mean it when I say I like you, for all the reasons I've said before, then I'd like to give it a shot." 

Ned opened his eyes. Peter was looking at him with hope. So much hope. A small half smile on his face. 

_ God, Peter was so, so pretty.  _

"Okay," Ned finally responded after what felt like an eternity. "Okay, I trust you." 

"Yeah?" Peter beamed at him. When Ned nodded, Peter giggled. "Can I kiss you now?" 

"Oh, god, please," Ned laughed. The resulting kiss was a little sloppy, their smiles trying to press together as their laughter was barely contained. Still, it was good. Peter tasted like chocolate and smelled like cotton, and Ned was happy. Truly, certainly, happy. 

"If I ask you out on a date," Peter giggled. "Are you going to invite Harley along?" 

Ned laughed. 

**Author's Note:**

> maywildflowers on tumblr :)


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